South Carolina will seek the death penalty against Charleston shooter Dylann Roof

Police
lead suspected shooter Dylann Roof into the courthouse in Shelby,
North Carolina, June 18, 2015. Roof, a 21-year-old with a
criminal record, is accused of killing nine people at a
Bible-study meeting in a historic African-American church in
Charleston, South Carolina, in an attack U.S. officials are
investigating as a hate crime.REUTERS/Jason Miczek

South Carolina state prosecutors will seek the death penalty
against Dylann Roof. Roof is charged with killing nine
members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in
Charleston because of his racist beliefs, according to court documents.

Roof, 21, had a website dedicated to his racist rantings that was
revealed in the aftermath of his June 17 massacre.

South Carolina law allows for prosecutors to seek the death
penalty if someone is charged with murdering multiple people
during one act of violence, per the Post.

Under South Carolina law, prosecutors can seek a death sentence
if there are certain aggravating factors in a case, including if
someone is charged with murdering more than one person during a
single act.

In addition to those charges against him in South Carolina, he is
also facing federal hate crime charges. It isn't clear which
trial will be held first, according to the New York Times.